Steptoe and Son (Series) - TV Tropes Steptoe and Son You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share WMG A classic Brit Com of the 1960s and '70s, written by famed British comedy writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, focusing on the perennial conflicts between a pair of rag-and-bone men, Harold Steptoe (Harry H. Corbett) and his elderly father Albert (Wilfrid Brambell). Airy, pretentious snob Harold has finer aspirations than riding the horse-and-cart for the rest of his life and is determined to improve himself, whilst wily, sneaky Albert is equally determined to sabotage his every effort and keep him in the family home for a good while yet. The show was noted for being a lot more gritty and down-to-earth than most other sitcoms of the age, focusing on two obviously poor, working class and downtrodden men, with most of the humour coming from the interactions between the characters rather than farce and slapstick, and their situation providing a great deal of pathos for the two characters.

Picked up from a pilot episode in the Anthology Series Comedy Playhouse, it had two runs on The BBC (1962-1965 and 1970-1974note The later run was made in colour, but many episodes from 1970-1972 only survive in black and white copies), and was adapted to radio as well as two feature films. More recently, there was a stage play called Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane, in which Harold returns to the junkyard in 2005, and is confronted by the ghost of Albert. Came fifteenth in Britain's Best Sitcom . Provides Examples Of: Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other : The father/son equivalent; for all the bitterness and bickering, it was sometimes hinted that Harold and Albert really did care about each other. It's worth noting that Corbett and Brambell did not get along at all in real life, particularly later in their lives; much like their characters, the actors found themselves stuck with each other and having to make the best of things. Averted rather thoroughly in the stage play. The clue is in the title.

Catch Phrase : "You dirty old man!" Parodied with Brambell's appearance as Paul McCartney's grandfather in A Hard Day's Night , where people keep saying he's a clean old man. Christmas Episode : "The Party" and "A Perfect Christmas". The latter was the show's final episode. The characters also appeared in short sketches in the 1962 and 1967 editions of the BBC's annual Christmas anthology special, Christmas Night with the Stars. Classically Trained Extra : or in this case leading characters. The loss of Corbett to this typecasting has been described as one of the greatest losses to British theatre. The episode in which Harold tries his hand at stage acting (unsuccessfully, of course) could be seen as lampshading this. Economy Cast : Many of the episodes, both radio and television, solely have Harold and Albert, without any supporting characters. Ensemble Dark Horse : An in-universe example occurs in an episode where Albert is recruited at the last minute to act in a play which Harold has already been cast. Despite his disastrous initial rehearsal, Albert manages to pull off a brilliant performance and gets rave reviews from the local critic.

Harold, on the other hand, gets Distracted by the Sexy in his scene, and ends up being jeered by the audience at the end. Failure Is the Only Option : Harold's attempts at upward mobility. Hollywood Dateless Despite his weird mannerisms and his social persona making very little sense, Harold doesn't seem to have much difficulty finding dates, and some of these relationships get fairly serious. Of course they all fall apart somehow or other once the woman in question meets Albert, but still. I Was Young and Needed the Money : In the episode "Porn Yesterday", Harold is excited about finding an old What the Butler Saw machine, until he recognises Albert as one of the nude actors in the film. Albert explains that he made the film because times were hard. Kitchen Sink Drama : Well, kitchen sink comedy, anyway, but the general point stands. Missing Mom : Albert is a widower, and it's established that his wife died when Harold was young. The Movie : Steptoe and Son (1972), Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973). Perpetual Poverty : One of the first British sitcoms to show characters living in this state.

Quite famously, British Prime Minster Harold Wilson got a re-run scheduled for the day of the 1966 General Election moved until after the polls had closed, either to ensure that Labour voters voted rather than stayed in to watch the show, or because it might put people off voting Labour. Either way, it worked — Labour won a landslide victory. Pilot : "The Offer", which originally aired as an episode of the anthology show Comedy Playhouse. Sir Swears Alot : At the rate of 10p per swear, the contents of the swearï¿½box, amounting to the sum of ₤80·³⁰ᵖ, the vast majority of which were contributed by Albert. More than 8× what they have in they have in their bank & building society accounts combined! Slobs vs. Snobs Sound to Screen Adaptation : In reverse; a radio series was adapted from the TV show. Tragedy : Both the TV and radio series fall into the tragicomedy category - comedic moments in what would otherwise be much more sombre.

Tragic Dream : Harold's repeated, failed attempts to better himself, combined with the acting ability of both Corbett and Brambell, provide some of the most tear-jerking moments in comedy. Transatlantic Equivalent : Sanford and Son is based on this show. It's also a rare crossover show that was both as successful and highly regarded in its new version as the original show it was inspired from. However the character of Fred Sanford, though hardly a saint, is considerably less cruel to his son, Lamont, than Albert is towards Harold. Also, Lamont is both smarter and less pretentious than the character he's based on. :: Indexes :: Steptoe and Son creators honoured with Bafta fellowship | Media | The Guardian Media Steptoe and Son creators honoured with Bafta fellowship Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, often credited as creators of situation comedy, also devised Hancock’s Half Hour Actors Wilfrid Brambell And Harry H Corbett on the set of Steptoe And Son.

Photograph: ANL/Rex Shutterstock Wednesday 4 May 2016 19.01 EDT Last modified on Thursday 11 August 2016 05.35 EDT Close This article is 8 months old Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the writers of Hancock’s Half Hour and creators of Steptoe and Son, will be honoured with a Bafta fellowship at its annual TV awards. Often credited as the creators of the situation comedy, the pair worked with Tony Hancock on Hancock’s Half Hour, first on radio and later on television, from 1954 to 1961. They went on to create a second landmark sitcom with Steptoe and Son, about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business, starring Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell, which ran for eight series until 1972.

Brian Logan meets the men who invented situation comedy Read more In a reference to the two shows and some of Hancock’s most memorable episodes, Galton said: “We are happy and honoured to accept this award on behalf of all the blood donors, test pilots, radio hams and rag and bone men of the 20th century without whom we would probably be out of a job.” The fellowship is Bafta’s highest accolade. Previous recipients include Julie Walters, Michael Palin, David Attenborough and Melvyn Bragg. Simpson said: “We are extremely delighted to receive the Bafta fellowship. We always wanted a fellowship, even though we did not know what a fellowship was. Not the sort of thing one associates with a couple of cockney lads, apart from Alfred Hitchcock of course.” Anne Morrison, chair of Bafta, said: “Having created some of the most iconic characters and programmes over the past few decades, it comes as no surprise that Alan Simpson and Ray Galton will be receiving the Bafta fellowship this year. Alan and Ray have had such successful careers spanning over 60 years, with credits such as Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour, two hugely popular sitcoms.

They are rightly considered the trailblazers of the situation comedy format.” The pair, who wrote for numerous stars including Frankie Howerd and Les Dawson, met while they were being treated for tuberculosis at the same Surrey sanatorium in 1949. BBC's Wolf Hall leads Bafta TV award nominations Read more Acclaimed BBC2 drama Wolf Hall leads the pack with four nominations for this year’s Bafta TV awards, which will be hosted by Graham Norton at London’s Royal Albert Hall and broadcast on BBC1. "Steptoe and Son" Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb trailers and videos full cast and crew trivia official sites memorable quotes Overview 19 out of 19 people found the following review useful: Classic comedy with a heart of truth from Solihull, England 22 June 2001 Although Steptoe and Son ran on British TV for twelve years it is one of those rare (maybe unique) examples of an idea which continued to develop and evolve rather than slide into stale repetition. In its early years the series emphasised broad comedy.

One well-remembered episode features Albert eating a meal while sitting in his bath, earning a rebuke from his son which became a national catchphrase: "You dirty old man!" As time went by the characters became established and the writing began to emphasise the mutual dependency of two basically lonely men (Harold the batchelor and Albert the widower). Harold dreams of a better quality of life away from his father and constantly makes attempts to achieve something in his own right. His attempts are thwarted by his own lack of social standing and his father's scheming: if Harold joins a local theatre group, Albert joins too and becomes the star of the show. Albert, for his part, fears losing his son and being abandoned in his old age. He will use any means (especially moral blackmail) to keep Harold at his side. More importantly he is far more realistic than Harold and sees that his attempts at social ambition are doomed. In one of the most moving episodes an old girlfriend of Harold's reappears after many years. They still feel the same way about each other and plan to marry. Finally Harold can break away from the old man.

Naturally Albert has other ideas, but at the climax of the show it is the girl who ends the relationship, telling Harold he is already married. The performances of Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett never faltered through the show's run. Galton and Simpson produced scripts of wit and insight and they performed with great skill and subtlety. This is a show where you laugh while recognising the truth and basic sadness of the situation in which the characters live. Was the above review useful to you? 19 out of 22 people found the following review useful: Classic Comedy That Hid A Terrible Truth from Birmingham, England 25 August 2002 Steptoe & Son (SS), was a national institution back in the 60s & 70s. There were huge TV audiences all clamouring to watch the latest episode in the lives of two lonely but dependent rag & bone men in Sheperds Bush, London. So big were the audience figures at around 7pm at night that even the-then Prime Minster, Harold Wilson, had to postpone a General Election campaign because it clashed with this hugely popular show.

Harold is the middle aged son, frustrated with his boring job as a "totter" and being constantly tied down by his irritating and manipulating father. Harold is a dreamer, a person who sees himself as an intellectual, a poet, an classical actor, a gentleman, a ladies man and sucessful businessman....and yet this is just his little dream, the kind of dream we all wish for. But in Harold's mind only his father is really holding him back from making those dreams a reality. Albert, on the other hand, has seen it all. He is a bitter old man who was brought up in a poor family and life was tough, especially having to suffer going through two world wars. He also realises that he never made a success of his life in a business sense. After decades of being a rag & bone man he is still no richer than his own father was. But to add to this bitterness, he is also scared of being left totally alone in an uncaring modern world. He no longer has a wife, no daughters, hardly any family at all to fall back on. The only person he can really trust & depend on is his son, Harold.

And Albert will do anything to ruin Harold's chances of either bettering his own life elsewhere or making sure he never leaves him to fend for himself. And so for the next 12 years British audiences peeked into the daily lives & scrabbles of this odd couple with Harold trying to escape to a better world and Albert making sure he doesn't. The scripts remained consistantly good throughout this era of new comedy. Boundaries of acceptable taste during this time were pushed ever further and the onset of moderately bad language from these two gents became common place. Some purists saw it as vulgar, crude and the thin end of the cultural wedge, while the majority felt it was nothing more than how life in the real world is portrayed, and that is probably one reason why it was so successful, because we could all empathise with the two characters as they struggle for their own particular hopes & dreams. It should be added that in real life both lead actors, Wilfred Brambell & Harry H Corbett slowly began to hate each other just as much as the characters they portrayed in the show. Brambell was very much a refined gentleman in real life and usually was very dismissive of the poor and working class (which is the great paradox of his own character).

At the same time Harry H Corbett felt he had become for-ever typecast with this Harold Steptoe millstone. He was desperate to do serious acting or to return to the theatre, but the roles he recieved were little more than Harold Steptoe by any other name. And as a consequence Harry would never get the chance to try new challenges and would always be associated and thought of as Harold. So there was lots of real bitterness in the latter years of the show, in fact some of the episodes were too close to the bone for some. There was an episode, for example, where Harold was given the starring role in an amateur play and for once he had high hopes of breaking away from the shackles of his present employer, only for the ever sceptical Albert to tell him that he will never be a real actor because he has no talent, no class, no skill, nothing at all in fact. You could almost sense the real hostility behind those masks when Albert confronted Harold. But for all that, SS on its own, is still a much loved show and often repeated and still remains as fresh & funny as ever. The less said about the two movie spinoffs the better.

****/***** from England 14 March 2003 Steptoe and Son is probably the best British comedy ever. Featuring late stars, Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett, this was an excellent show which never failed to amuse me and was true to life. The show featured pensioner Albert Steptoe and his son Harold Steptoe (a pair of rag and bone men). They bickered, the fought, they sulked and generally got on each other's nerves. But underneath, there was a mutual love. This show kind of reminded me of my own life. Even though I love my own dad, I did spend quite a few years of my life arguing with him even when I left home at 18. We were two different people with different outlooks on life and this led to some battles at times. This show was the same. Albert and Harold could not have been more different. Harold was fed up with his dad's filthy habits and moaning; Albert was always playing on Harold's emotions with phrases such as, "I'm an old man Harold. Need looking after." Also funny was the fact that Albert always ruined any prospective relationship that Harold was going to engage in.

But they loved each other deep down and that was the fun of it. Truly the greatest British comedy ever. Was the above review useful to you? 7 out of 8 people found the following review useful: An excercise in brilliant witty comedy from Ile-de-France / Paris Region, France 29 August 2004 A brilliant exercise in British comedy from the sixties and seventies ! Not one episode fails to please and the dialogues were extremely savoury. A certain number of episodes are available on BBC dvds in the UK region 2. The picture quality of the latter episodes is so good that you'd swear they'd been made yesterday. It is hard to believe that both of these characters have sadly left us but thanks to this series they will live on forever in our hearts and minds ! It appears that in real life, Wilfred Brambell was an exceedingly well-spoken man and didn't have a common accent at all. In one of the episodes involving Harold acting in a play, we do in fact hear Albert speak in a very posh voice albeit very briefly. Was the above review useful to you?

6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: "You Dirty Old Man!" from Ambrosia 12 September 2006 One of the saddest sights I ever saw on television was Wilfrid Brambell, close to tears on 'Nationwide' in 1982 following the sudden death of his 'Steptoe & Son' co-star Harry H.Corbett. The pairing of these great actors, combined with some wonderful scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, made 'Steptoe' a classic. I think viewers recognised the truthfulness of the situation; rag and bone man Harold desperately wanted to escape from his father's domination to begin a new life on his own, but couldn't because he loved the old man too much. When searching for comedy ideas, today's writers fall into the trap of thinking: "How can I shock the public?". 'Steptoe' did not set out to shock, yet did because it was so real. After a successful run in the '60's, it was revived in the '70's in colour, and these episodes are my favourites, particularly 'Divided We Stand' in which Harold and Albert tried to lead separate lives in the same house.

The word 'timeless' is overused these days, but it definitely applies here. Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Laughter through the tears from United States 19 June 2015 I am an American who has only discovered the marvelous 'Steptoe & Son' British television series many years after it originally aired. I have managed to watch just about every episode that is available on you tube. I highly recommend this television classic. There were numerous episodes that made me want to cry. The death of their horse Hercules was virtually unbearable, as well as the one where Harold had Albert placed in a old folks' home. The love-hate relationship of the father and son junk company team is more intense than anything ever seen on American television. Although I feel very sorry for Harry being trapped in a world he never made, I find Albert the more appealing of the two. I also can understand the old man's accent more than the son's. Was the above review useful to you?

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: As Good As It Gets from United Kingdom 22 June 2015 Along with Rab Nesbitt this is equally my top of British comedy. The worst episode holds more laughs than the best of anything else. The idea is so simple in real terms but holds so much span of internal conflict and emotional war. Father and son material, as most men know is like a battlefield of top dogism..Here we have a 40 year old man living with a father who has been widower for the same time with equal demons to come to terms with. If any man out there who had a father who could play football or cards better than him then this is for you. Apart from all this social comment the script was so funny and witty it can be often funny without empathy. Whatever funny you're after , this has it! Was the above review useful to you?

1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Classic Comedy At Its Finest from Wallyford, East Lothian, Scotland 15 June 2015 *** This review may contain spoilers *** I am fairly certain that most readers are already familiar with 'Steptoe & Son' so I wont bother going into great detail about it. I will, however, say that it is one the finest sitcoms ever made, brilliantly performed with such realism and panache by its two leads - Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell. Sprouting from a 'Comedy Playhouse' edition entitled 'The Offer', it was created and written by Ray Galton & Alan Simpson, whose previous comedy work included 'Hancock's Half Hour' and 'Citizen James'. 'Steptoe & Son' was nothing like either of those. It was more a comedy serial rather than a sitcom. The love/hate relationship between rag and bone man Albert and his downtrodden son Harold added a touch of drama and pathos to the show.

It has also been well documented that Corbett and Brambell both despised each other in real life over the course of the show's run, a fact which, while unfortunate, adds greatly to the realism of the actors portrayal of their characters. Aside from great acting from the show's main players, Galton and Simpson's wonderfully crafted scripts helped make 'Steptoe & Son' the classic it was. Among my favourite episodes were 'Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs, Downstairs' ( Harold has to look after a bedridden Albert ), 'Oh, What A Beautiful Mourning' ( Harold and Albert attend the funeral of a tight fisted relative ), 'Loathe Story' ( the harrowing history behind Harold's childhood is revealed ), 'The Desperate Hours' ( two escaped criminals seek refuge in the Steptoe household ) and, the best of all, 'Divided We Stand' in which Harold and Albert try to lead their own lives whilst living under the same roof. There was quite an impressive array of guest stars too which included Mollie Sugden, Joanna Lumley, Leonard Rossiter, J.G Devlin, Yootha Joyce and Patricia Routledge.

Two feature films were subsequently made - 'Steptoe & Son' ( 1972 ) and 'Steptoe & Son Ride Again' ( 1973 ). 'Steptoe & Son' like many British shows was sold off to the States where it was remade as 'Sanford & Son' ( starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson ), however the original remains the best. Was the above review useful to you? 1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Flawed brilliance 21 April 2012 *** This review may contain spoilers *** This was one of the great sitcoms of the 1960's and 1970's and was aired and often repeated on the BBC. Around 50 audio episodes were made as well and although not on the radio any longer are available on the web and cd. This was a story of a father and son team who ran an old fashioned junk business. The father refused to move with the times and the son was forever looking for a way out of the hell that had been created. The 2 characters were very well acted (disliked each other off screen) and the main set was well put together.

Albert, the father, would defeat Harold at anything he tried and spent most episodes trying to keep him in his place. Harold, although trying to better himself, was fiercely loyal to his Father and Albert used that to his advantage. Albert was incredibly selfish over this and saw Harold purely as a ticket to comfortable old age. Any time Harold met a girl or had a chance to better himself Albert would purposely mess it up for him as he saw everything like that as a potential threat to the status quo which he enjoyed. This left the viewer quite often with a big feeling of frustration. Harold had chance after chance to leave but did not take them because of the aforementioned loyalty. It had got stale by the end as the conclusions to each episode became very predictable. Good viewing though ultimately flawed. The series never developed, it just stayed the same for far too long. Was the above review useful to you? 1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Comedy Gems. 8 July 2007 *** This review may contain spoilers *** Starting with the films, I was hooked on Steptoe & Son from the age of 7 or 8. Two rag and bone men in London constantly arguing, stopping the other living their life.

I couldn't get enough of it. First saw the series in 1991 on the Comedy Channel, the episode Divided We Stand and i was even more hooked. These episodes were based on the most simplest of things. The issue would be there, say in Divided We Stand, Harold wants to improve the house. Albert doesn't. They talk over the problem and a solution is found, in this case they divide the house (rather badly). The comical part is everything including the toilet is divided with a turnstile in the hallway. Then the crunch happens and they are back together again. Each episode followed this principal and, even though topics were repeated (ie going on holiday was used at least 5 times!) it was always fresh. This is definitely a sitcom to collect on DVD as it is so well acted, so well scripted and put together. There is no way you'd fail to laugh at Steptoe & Son. Knighthoods for Mr Galton & Mr Simpson for this alone. Was the above review useful to you?

Page 1 of 2: Steptoe & Son Radio Series - British Comedy Radio British Comedy Radio The Home of British Radio Comedy 24/7 Menu Contact Steptoe & Son Radio Series Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd’s Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, “Old Ned”, was composed by Ron Grainer. The series was voted 15th in a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain’s Best Sitcom of all time. It was remade in the US as Sanford and Son. Characters The father, Albert Edward Ladysmith Steptoe (portrayed by Wilfrid Brambell), was born on 26 September 1899 (father not known but believed to be a local muffin man, now dead; the portrait he keeps of his father is in fact William Gladstone), though he always let on that he had been born in 1901.

He appears to have joined the army underage at the start of the First World War, and is seen wearing the Mons Star medals to prove it. He served with the British Expeditionary Force to Archangel, White Russia, in 1919. Steptoe Senior is lazy, stubborn, narrow-minded, foul-mouthed, and has revolting personal habits. Albert is content with his place in the world, utterly unpretentious and downright cynical. He can be extremely vindictive and does everything he can to prevent Harold, his son, improving himself—especially if it means him leaving home. He is normally unshaven and wears a very old pair of false teeth, discoloured and with teeth missing. His wife died in 1936. He mentioned in one episode that he was one of fourteen children. Harold Albert Kitchener Steptoe (played by Harry H. Corbett), born 1925 (Corbett’s birth date) for the 1960s series (or born 1932 for the 1970s series) and educated at Scrubb’s Lane Elementary School is also obstinate, though prone to moments of enthusiasm about an idea.

He wants to move up in the world—most of all to escape from the family home and his stifling relationship with his father which was the subject of the first episode, “The Offer”. Harold has aspirations. He likes to see his business as being in antiques rather than junk. He bitterly regrets leaving the army, in which his service took him to Malaya and he achieved the rank of Corporal, and he nearly always wears a workman’s belt adorned with army cap badges. During the 1960s series he had been a veteran of the second World War but as he was ‘de-aged’ during the 1970s series this was never mentioned again. He is a dreamer and idealist. Politically, Harold is a Labour supporter who is appalled at his father who is a Conservative Party supporter. He aims to improve his mind and his social circle but always fails, often thanks to Albert’s deliberate put-downs or sabotage.

Harold’s exasperation and disgust at his father’s behaviour often results in his repeating the catchphrase “You dirty old man.” Situation The episodes often revolve around (sometimes violent) disagreements between the two men, Harold’s attempts to bed women and momentary interest over things found on his round. As with many of the best examples of British comedy, much of the humour derives from the pathos of the protagonists’ situation, especially Harold’s continually-thwarted (usually by the elder Steptoe) attempts to “better himself” and the unresolvable love/hate relationship that exists between the pair. A common theme is that Albert almost always comes out on top. Despite his lack of effort Albert routinely and easily proves himself superior to his son whenever they come into competition, such as in their frequent game-playing, e.g., the Scrabble and badminton games from the 1972 series. Harold takes them desperately seriously and sees them as symbols of his desire to improve himself, but they come to nothing every time. His father’s success is partly down to superior talent but aided by cynical gamesmanship and undermining of his son’s confidence.

In addition, Albert habitually has better judgement than his son, who blunders into all sorts of con-tricks and blind alleys as a result of his unrealistic, straw-clutching ideas. Occasionally the tables are turned, but overall the old man is the winner, albeit in a graceless fashion. Harold is infuriated by these persistent frustrations and defeats, even going to the extent in “Divided We Stand” (1972) of partitioning the house in two so he doesn’t have to share with his selfish, uncultured and negative father. Predictably, his plan ends in failure and ultimately he can see no way out. However, for all the bitterness there is an essential bond between the pair. Steptoe And Son Creators Ray Galton And Alan Simpson To Receive BAFTA Fellowship Award Steptoe And Son Creators Ray Galton And Alan Simpson To Receive BAFTA Fellowship Award Pin it Share Steptoe and Son creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson are to be honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship award on Sunday.

View photos Copyright [Richard Gardner/REX/Shutterstock] The scriptwriting pair will receive the prestigious accolade, the highest bestowed by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on an individual, at Sunday’s TV BAFTA Awards. The prize is handed out in recognition of “an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, television or games”. Ray said: “We are happy and honoured to accept this Award on behalf of all the Blood Donors, Test Pilots, Radio Hams and Rag and Bone Men of the 20th Century without whom we would probably be out of a job. Thank you all.” View photos Copyright [Evening News / Associated Newspapers /REX/Shutterstock] Anne Morrison, Chair of BAFTA, said: “Having created some of the most iconic characters and programmes over the past few decades, it comes as no surprise that Alan Simpson and Ray Galton will be receiving the BAFTA Fellowship this year. “Alan and Ray have had such successful careers spanning over 60 years, with credits such as Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half-Hour, two hugely popular sitcoms.

They are rightly considered the trailblazers of the situation comedy format.” BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son ran for 12 years from 1963-1974 and helped the pair win the Writers’ Guild Award in 1962 and 1963. View photos Copyright [ITV/REX/Shutterstock] The series followed the lives of a father-and-son rag and bone business, with the titular characters played by Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett. Galton and Simpson also created sitcom Hancock’s Half-Hour and wrote for comedians including the legendary Frankie Howerd. Previous winners of the BAFTA Fellowship award include Michael Palin, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Melvyn Bragg, Sir David Attenborough, Julie Walters and Jon Snow, who was honoured with the accolade last year.

Reblog theartsdesk Q&A: Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson | The Arts Desk Home > comedy > theartsdesk Q&A: Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson theartsdesk Q&A: Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson | reviews, news & interviews theartsdesk Q&A: Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson theartsdesk Q&A: Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson Fifty years on, the creators of Steptoe and Son explain its enduring appeal as the classic sitcom is revived onstage by Jasper Rees Thursday, 14 March 2013 Share 'If we wrote it now we would side with the old man': Steptoe creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson Is Steptoe and Son the platonic ideal of the British sitcom? Two men trapped in eternal stasis, imprisoned by class and bound together by family ties as if by hoops of steel, never to escape: it’s what half-hour comedy should be. Posterity would seem to agree, because since the sitcom ended in 1974 the two rag and bone men have never been out of work, appearing in the cinema, on stage and radio.

For 30 years they made and reran the show on Swedish television, underpinning the widely held theory that Steptoe is but a step from Strindberg. Half a century after its creation, last summer Steptoe and Son dragged their horse and cart down to Cornwall, home of the experimental company Kneehigh. Their adaptation of four episodes of the show for the stage has now pulled up at the Lyric Hammersmith. When director Emma Rice sent Steptoe’s creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson the script, the opening page proposed to introduce a sort of female guardian angel who would allow audiences to see father and son through “the lens of femininity”. She didn't mention that her cast would use Cornish accents. So this incarnation of Steptoe and Son is certainly different. The episode Rice begins with is “The Offer”, the first ever Steptoe script, which was written as a one-off for Comedy Playhouse in 1962. This was a series gifted to Galton and Simpson after years of sterling service writing Hancock’s Half Hour, from whose star they had just acrimoniously split. Steptoe and his son Harold, played by Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H.

Corbett (pictured below), took up residence in Oil Drum Lane for the next three years. The show came to a halt in 1965 and then returned in colour for another four years in 1970. I meet the two great masters of television comedy in Ray Galton’s splendid Georgian home next to Bushy Park in south-west London. Portraits of the pair – paintings and photographs - fill the hallway. Now both in their early eighties, they’ve known each other for 65 years, having first met in a TB isolation ward as teenagers. Both long since widowed, they complete each other’s sentences. JASPER REES: Could you take us back to the moment these two men sprang into being? ALAN SIMPSON: We were stuck for an idea for show number four in Comedy Playhouse. To pass the time I remember coming up with ludicrous ideas just to make us laugh. It was always two of everything. Two rat-catchers in Buckingham Palace. Ray said, “Two rag and bone men.” I went, “Oh yeah...” I didn’t realise he was serious. I thought he was joking.

I couldn't think of anything myself and suddenly I thought, "What about these two rag and bone men?" He said, “What about them? I thought you didn’t like the idea.” We were getting to the stage where we had to start writing something. I said, “Let’s give it a go.” So we started writing. We didn’t have any names: first rag and bone man, second rag and bone man. Ten pages of arguing. They’ve come in off the round. It was flowing very nicely. We got what would have been halfway through the script and we couldn’t go on like this for half an hour. So we had to decide who were they, what they were doing and what their relationship was, were they brothers, related in any way? It was obvious one was older than the other and the one who stuck in the yard was moaning because he couldn't get out and about any more. And then the idea came they were father and son and that solved everything. If they’d just been cousins or even brothers it wouldn’t have worked, or not in the same way. And it was the fact that the younger one was 37. He wasn’t 27.

He was 37 and he was trying to get away. As soon as that crystallised we finished writing the script. We found that sometimes it’s a blessing to be restricted Who came up with the name Steptoe? RAY GALTON: We both used to spend a lot of our time in Richmond in a gang of guys. We had a place we rented and we all used to congregate there. There was a place opposite. AS: A photographic shop that sold old cameras called Steptoe and Figge. RG: We didn’t want Fygge. AS: The idea “and Son” had already occurred to us. Dombey and Son. We tried Figge and Son. Steptoe and Son? Ah that’s it. I always said two syllables is better than one. RG: We knew when we finished it that it was good.

Tom Sloan - [the BBC's head of comedy] who had given us this marvellous opportunity to write what we liked every week, cast it, be in it, direct it, everything, which had never happened before to writers and never will again I’m sure - first came down to rehearsals and was saying, “You know what you’ve got here?” We were playing it dumb. “No no no, what Tom?” “It’s a series.” After 10 years of doing Hancock, this star vehicle, we had different actors every week and thought, we don’t want to go back on that treadmill again. In the end we ran out of excuses but played our trump card. We said it, “If Harry Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell want to do it, we’ll do it.” Thinking, they’ll never want to do it. They jumped at it. It was a big hit and right after the first series the BBC repeated it immediately, which is very unusual. To had a run of 12 weeks instead of six. 'You dirty old man': Harry H Corbett as Harold Steptoe So just as Harold is trapped, you were trapped.

(Pictured: Alan Simpson, seated, and Ray Galton) AS: We’d just come off nine years of working with Hancock and we thought it would be like a breath of fresh air to have the world as our oyster. The problem as we found out very quickly is when you can pick from anything it’s very difficult to choose what you want to do. And we found that sometimes it’s a blessing to be restricted. At least it gives you parameters to work within. Why did you alight on those two actors? RG: We knew exactly the actors we wanted. Harry Corbett was a method actor and was an actors’ actor. They used to rush home to watch him on telly. He also had a group called the Langham Players on radio, and of course he was Joan Littlewood’s crown prince at Stratford. Wilfrid Brambell we’d seen in Shaw plays and Clive Exton’s plays. We said, “Could you put out an availability check for them?” Corbett was down in Bristol Old Vic doing a Shakespeare and the old man I don’t think was working at that time.

The script went down to Harry and he read it - "Oh, god, must do this" - and managed to persuade the Bristol Old Vic to give him a week off. We had other people in mind if they hadn’t been able. Can you remember the impact of "The Offer"? How did it go down out in the real world? AS: It was certainly different to anything we’d done. It was more of a drama than a comedy. When we got into the studio there was a wonderful set. And Harry H. Corbett said, “Never mind the set, what are all these seats doing here?” We said, “That’s for the audience?” he said, “Audience? Nobody told me about an audience. I’m going to have to rethink my entire performance.” And we thought, "Christ, we’ve got an actor here." Harry played it as a drama. Real tears, that’s the point. Comics wouldn’t have done that He famously and – unprecedently for a comedy - cried at the end.

RG: I remember at the end of "The Offer" when Harold says to the old man he’s leaving, he can’t stand any more of this, and he starts loading the cart up with his few possessions, the gold bag with one golf stick in it, things like that, and when he was ready for off, “I’ve got to go, Dad, I’ve got to go”, and then he goes to the stables to get the horse out and the old man says, “You can’t have the horse, that’s mine, you can’t have that.” So he gets between the shafts himself and starts to pull it and he can’t move. And gradually he starts to cry. And he did cry. And the old man says, “Don’t go now, son, go in the morning. Come in and I’ll make you some coffee. Go in the morning, there’ll be less traffic about then.” And he takes him into the house, Harry still protesting about how he’s going – “I’ve got to go.” And the door closed and the old man came out and nicked a barometer or something that he coveted and took it into the house.

When Harry started crying I thought, “Oh my God, we really have got actors here.” AS: Real tears, that’s the point. Comics wouldn’t have done that. We loved it. It enabled us to do subjects which you couldn't do with comedians. For example we did one called "Steptoe and Son and Son" where a girl turns up on the doorstep eight months' pregnant. In those days you couldn't have that with Hancock or Frankie Howerd. They weren’t allowed to have sex lives. Nowadays it’s all changed. Was the sadness something that you built into it from the very start and talked about with each other? AS: We didn’t have to do out and out comedy for the sake of it. This is all part of the terms of reference of Comedy Playhouse. We could do what we liked. We could do a comedy that wasn’t all about laughter, that had something else in it, and you could go a page or two without a laugh and have nobody looking to see where the next funny line is. How long did it take you to write an episode? RG: We allowed a week to do it.

We’d start beforehand and may have three or four in hand when you start but round about episode four or five you get caught and they’re waiting for it. Why did it end? RG: We ended it twice. Once for real and once for four years. We just thought, that’s it. AS: A lot of things had changed. Colour had come in. People said, “That’s going to ruin it.” Completely wrong. It made it look even more grotty. Both times we thought we’d exhausted it and started repeating ourselves. The second time they hadn’t fallen out but the relationship was getting a little bit frayed around the edges and apparently in Australia it collapsed entirely. But we weren’t party to that. They were touring a cabaret script that we’d written and they brought in songs and dance routines. RG: They were probably a bit fed up with each other. AS: They had different approaches as well. Harry was always more of a method actor whereas Wilfrid was the old-fashioned learn-the-lines-and-say-them type actor.

How much involvement did you have with the BBC drama The Curse of Steptoe, which argued that Harry H Corbett felt imprisoned by the role of Harold Steptoe and detested Brambell? (Pictured: Jason Isaacs and Phil Davis as Corbett and Brambell) AS: We had a day here with the writer and the producer and gave our side of the story and they took no notice of it. It was totally untrue. It’s quite well written, extremely well played, but it wasn’t true, none of it happened – not as far as we were concerned. They had it that on the first day of rehearsals they couldn’t stand the sight of each other from the word go. Totally untrue. On the contrary they got on like a house of fire. Wilfrid admired Harry and Harry admired Wilfrid. Two totally different types of actor but Harry used to direct Wilfrid. So it was seen through the prism of that Australia tour. RG: Which was so long after it. They must have been aware they were getting near the end of their careers. You felt trapped into doing it, the characters are trapped. Did Harry H. Corbett feel trapped by the role in the way that the drama suggested?

That he wanted to be a serious actor and he ended up being a vaudevillian? RG: The funny thing with Harry was his accent and when he did "Now is the winter of our discontent" he would sound like Steptoe doing it. And people laughed. AS: Before when he did it they’d think, "What an interesting reading." But after Steptoe it was, “Ah it’s Steptoe doing Richard III.” His natural accent was Mancunian and the old man was from Dublin although he’d lost his Irish accent. We saw Harry played an American once and he sounded like Steptoe doing an American accent. Did it in any way irk him? AS: I think he was very philosophical about it and he decided to milk it.

Wilfrid Brambell pays tribute to the late Harry H Corbett Did you ever come across anyone saying, "That’s my life you’ve put on the telly?" RG: We got a letter from the Federation or Iron and Steel Merchants representing rag and bone men saying how much they enjoyed the show but would we take heed that our prices are way out and the rag and bone men are saying that all their customers are complaining because Steptoe and Son pay much more for old junk than they do. We did take it to heart. Did you feel like sadists keeping Harold there? You inflicted pain on this character for many years. AS: We never made it clear to ourselves even whether Harold stayed because he felt that he owed a responsibility to his father or the fact that deep down he was incapable of going out and fending for himself, and he used the father as an excuse not to have to prove himself. In a way we sided with the young man. We used to make the old man more of a bastard. When he’s won again he’s “got him again”. If we wrote it now we would side with the old man. In those days we were younger than the young man.

RG: He desperately wanted to leave but he didn’t have any faith in himself. Nothing going for him outside in the big bad world. He would pick on all the things he couldn’t possibly do or be now: just leave home and be a scientist or a doctor. He was driven by fantasies, but it was desperation. He really wanted to go. AS: In some respects it was an extension of the Hancock character: daydreaming and delusions of grandeur. The only thing is Hancock was more pompous and more middle-class. Did the situation grow out of post-war changes and the growth in social mobility? AS: He was aware that there was a world out there he was missing out on. But the whole point about it is there was no social mobility for them. Mobility for them was get on the horse and cart and go out for a couple of hours. How much did you know about rag and bone men? RG: The family next door to me, the father worked very hard for himself but he didn’t have a job. His son was about the same age as me had a horse and cart and I went out with him a few times until my mother found out and I got a right walloping.

If you asked people about rag and bone men, they’d probably think they were all owning a fortune. Like you mustn’t give money to beggars in the streets because their Rolls Royce is waiting round the corner. We all believed that all these people were just scrounging off of us. But it was breaking down. By the time rock’n’roll came in Britain was a different place. AS: You used to have rang and bone men going up the King’s Road when I was a kid. What Steptoe is about is summed up to a certain extent in the end of one of the scripts that Emma Rice has picked for this play. We called it “Two’s Company”. The old man goes out every week down to the bingo and he’s met a younger woman, about 20 years younger than himself, who goes there to provide the teas, and he’s started taking her out. When they get back home he introduces her to Harry and they can’t believe it: she used to go out with Harry 20 years earlier. Harold was very much in love with her and she left.

We get as much out of that situation as we can and right at the end the two of them are arguing and when they stop they look around and she’s gone. A little note that she’s left: “I can’t marry you, Harold. You’re already married.” And the old man says, “What does she mean by that, silly cow?” And they both start insulting her. “Didn’t see much of her anyway. See the size of her legs?” Why has the show stood the test of time? AS: I think it’s because it’s about a situation, a relationship that has no time setting. It’s as old as the human race. There have been many versions of Steptoe, most overseen by yourselves. What did you make of the approach from Kneehigh? (Kneehigh's Steptoe and Son pictured above by Steve Tanner) AS We were intrigued more than anything. It didn’t occur to us that it could be used in that sort of production. She said that it would be a new slant and she’d like to use our scripts as a basis. She picked three or four scripts and stitched them together. It would be her view of the relationship.

We were happy to let her do it. It’s very flattering when people who have got such talent are interested in your work, albeit it’s 50 years old. She sent this treatment and it was even more fascinating because it was something we would never have done. She’s brought in an extra character, a guardian angel type thing in and out of the narrative in different guises, different ages, and she’s brought music of the time in. She’s just turned it into a musical version and a female view. This character comments on the relationship between two men. We’ve never looked at it that way. The nearest we got is the failed romances with Harry and one or two with the old man. RG: I don’t think we would have allowed anybody else to bugger about with it like she is. But that’s what’s making it interesting. What did you both think when you read the phrase, “the lens of femininity”? AS: Hello, we’ve got an intellectual here. Watch the whole of 'The Offer' There was no social mobility for them. Mobility for them was get on the horse and cart and go out for a couple of hours

Question: Which pair of writers initiated the Steptoe and Son sitcom?
Answer: RAY GALTON and ALAN SIMPSON